Beschreibung:
<jats:p><jats:bold>Summary:</jats:bold><jats:bold> Purpose: </jats:bold> Cryptogenic epilepsy, the group of epilepsy syndromes for which an etiology is unknown, comprises ∼20% of all epilepsy syndromes. We selected patients in this subgroup of epilepsy and tested them for evidence of <jats:italic>Toxoplasma gondii</jats:italic> IgG antibodies by the enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. <jats:italic>T. gondii</jats:italic> is found in up to 20% of the U.S. population forming dormant brain cysts in the latent bradyzoite form. We investigated the hypothesis that dormant <jats:italic>T. gondii</jats:italic> infection might be associated with cryptogenic epilepsy.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Methods:</jats:bold> We selected patients with cryptogenic epilepsies and tested them for evidence of <jats:italic>T. gondii</jats:italic> IgG antibodies by the enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. A control group was also tested for comparison.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Results:</jats:bold> We have found a statistically‐significant elevation of <jats:italic>T. gondii</jats:italic> antibodies among cryptogenic epilepsy patients as compared to controls [59% increase in optical density (OD), p = 0.013]. This association persisted after adjustment for subjects' gender and age in a multiple logistic regression model; however, it was no longer as statistically significant.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Conclusions:</jats:bold> Our results suggest that chronic <jats:italic>T. gondii</jats:italic> infection with brain cysts may be a cause of cryptogenic epilepsy.</jats:p>